Adhesive tape and method

ABSTRACT

A method of manufacturing rolls of pressure-sensitive adhesive tape without using preformed cores which involves first attaching a nonadhesive liner sheet to tape to be wound and then winding the liner and the tape around a mandrel in such a way that the nonadhesive liner is wound in contact with the mandrel surface and the tape is wound around the liner. The resulting product also is described and claimed.

United States Patent 1 Hall et al.

[ Nov. 6, 1973 ADHESIVE TAPE AND METHOD [75] Inventors: Joseph J. Hall,Somerville; Leo M.

Lamb, Freehold, both of NJ.

[73] Assignee: Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick,

[22] Filed: Aug. 25, 1971 [2]] Appl. No.: 174,747

[52] US. Cl 156/184, 156/192, 156/271, 206/59 C [51] Int. Cl B65h 81/02[58] Field of Search 156/184, 186, 187,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,608,503 8/1952 Meyer161/145 X Clark 242/74 X Aldrich et a1 1. 156/522 X PrimaryExaminerAlfred L. Leavitt Assistant ExaminerDavid A. SimmonsAttorney-Charles A. Harris et al.

[57] ABSTRACT A method of manufacturing rolls of pressure-sensitiveadhesive tape without using preformed cores which involves firstattaching a nonadhesive liner sheet to tape to be wound and then windingthe liner and the tape around a mandrel in such a way that thenonadhesive liner is wound in contact with the mandrel surface and thetape is wound around the liner. The resulting product also is describedand claimed.

7 Claims, 14 Drawing Figures PATENTEDNuv 6197 3 3.770.542

' SHEET 10F 2 l 5 f4 I INVENTORS 53 45- ATTORIQEY ADHESIVE TAPE ANDMETHOD The present invention relates to a method or process formanufacturing rolls of normally tacky and pressuresensitive adhesivetape wherein the tape is wound upon itself to form an annular roll withthe adhesive side of 5 the tape facing inwardly toward the axis of theroll and to the resulting tape roll and more particularly to a processwherein a multiplicity of relatively narrow tapes are slit from a muchwider adhesive sheet and individually wound in the form of rolls in thismanner.

ll-leretofore, these tape rolls have been manufactured by winding theslit tapes upon a series of hollow, cylindrical or annular cores whichare positioned on a winding mandrel in a specific spaced relation fromone another. These cores have been made of cardboard, plastic and evenmetal. However, they normally are cut from a hollow cardboard tube intonarrower cores of the desired axial dimension. In fact, this lattermethod has proven most useful because adhesive tapes are manufactured indifferent widths and each core should have substantially the same axialdimension or width as the tape wound thereon. Thus, normally thecardboard cores are cut or slit in advance of the time they are neededto manufacture tape rolls and kept in inventories of various core sizes,i.e., widths and diameters. Tape rolls also are manufactured tofacilitate dispensing of the tape from the roll. This means that thecost of maintaining and storing these core inventories must be added tothe various core manufacturing costs.

Another problem, in addition to core costs, in winding tape rolls uponcylindrical cores in this manner, is in maintaining axial alignmentbetween the tape being wound and the cores themselves. Misalignmentbetween the tape and the core, not only is unsightly, but can cause rolltelescoping and tape dispensing problems. In addition, it should benoted that the loading of cores onto mandrels in modern tape windingapparatus normally requires a high proportion of the time of one manassigned to loading the cores and removing the tape rolls therefrom.

We have invented a method of manufacturing rolls of normally tacky andpressure-sensitive adhesive tape which eliminates the above costs andproblems because our process eliminates the need for preformedcylindrical cores. In the process of our invention, the core, if thereis one, is formed as the tape is wound.

In the process of this invention, flexible and nontacky liner sheet isattached to the leading end of the tacky pressure-sensitive sheet, andthe liner and the tape are sure-sensitive adhesive sheet before theadhesive sheet is slit into narrower tapes, and the liner is slit intotapes along with the adhesive sheet prior to advancing the liner and thetapes into engagement with the winding mandrel. Thus, the liner for anyparticular tape slit is in exact width-wise alignment with that tapeprior to reaching the mandrel. Of course, this tape than will remain inalignment with the wound liner during formation of the roll. In thepreferred form of this invention, adjacent tapes slit from the adhesivesheet are wound alternately on a pair of mandrels, each of which ispositioned in a separate rotatable turret which includes windingpositions for at least two mandrels, although as many as four windingpositions sometimes are used. One of the main advantages of this type ofturret winding is that empty mandrels are automatically brought intoposition for winding as the full mandrels are moved out of position byrotation of the turret. In the process of our invention, the liner is sopositioned with respect to the adhesive sheet that it is automaticallylocated so as to be engaged by the empty mandrel when the mandrel isrotated into position as described above.

In the preferred embodiment of this invention, the liner sheet isadhered to the adhesive side of the leading end of thepressure-sensitive adhesive sheet in such a way that the extreme leadingend of the adhesive sheet overlaps the leading end of the liner. It isthis leading end of the adhesive sheet which is available to adhere theliner to the mandrel for each of the tapes slit from the sheets. In ourpreferred process using the rotating turrets described above, the linersheet corresponding in width with the original adhesive sheet is applied.to the under side of the adhesive sheet in timed relation with thedesired length of the adhesive sheet or tape which is to be wound intorolls in such a way that the liner will appear at the winding turretadjacent the empty mandrel just as this mandrel is brought into contactwith the tape. Then, the tape is cut to release the rolls wound upon thefull mandrel and separate them from the new leading tape ends whichalready are ad hering the new liners to the empty mandrel, or moreproperly to the empty mandrels since two mandrels are used as describedabove. Then, the trailing ends of the tapes attached to the full rollsare wound about thefull mandrel to complete these rolls and the newrolls are begun on the empty mandrels, first by winding the newlyadhered liners about the mandrel surface and then by winding the tape,itself, about the liners.

In our preferred process just described, the liner and the tapes arewound on expandable mandrels. These mandrels are in their diametricallyexpanded position when the liners are attached-thereto and the tape iswound about the liner to form the rolls. When it is desired to removethe full rolls from the mandrels, the mandrels are contracteddiametrically to provide an annular space between the liner and thecircumference of the mandrel. This allows the tape roll and the mandrelto be rotated with respect to one another oppositely to the direction inwhich the roll was wound to detach the tape from the mandrel and draw itunderneath the leading end of the liner and into adhering contacttherewith. This clearly releases the tape roll from engagement with themandrel and exposes only the nonadhesive side of the leading end of thetape to the hollow inner circumference of the roll which is otherwisecovered by the liner.

Thus, the liner performs the first function of the prior art tape cores,that of shielding the tacky inner circumference of the hollow tape roll,first from the mandrel during manufacture principally so that the rollscan be removed therefrom, and secondly from dirt and handling duringuse. In addition, the liner, with the first convolution of tape woundaround the liner and adhered thereto, acts as the central cylinder aboutwhich the tape is wound and fixes the inner diameter of the tape roll.This central cylinder may be quite flexible or fairly rigid dependingupon the nature of the liner material which is employed. For instance,the liner may be a paper as thin or thinner than the tape backing, inwhich case its principal function is to act as a shield as describedabove. On the other hand, the liner may be in the form of a flexiblecorrugated cardboard laminate of the general type described in U. S.Letters Patent No. 2,350,369 so that the central cylinder formed withthe first encircling layer of tape possesses considerable rigidity andwill retain its shape until that first layer or, in the direction ofunwinding, the last convolution of the adhesive tape is removed orunwound from around the liner. In either case, i.e., whether the linermerely is a shield or imparts considerable rigidity to the tape roll,when that convolution of tape in contact with the liner is unwound, theliner itself also is unwound and returned to sheet form.

Thus, the product of our invention, i.e., the pressuresensitive adhesivetape roll wound around the liner, has a decided functional advantagewhen used in any kind of dispensing equipment which normally wouldrequire removal of spent cores when the tape which they carry is allused or unwound therefrom. Since, in the tape roll of this invention,the liner is retained in its cylindrical configuration only by adhesivecontact with the tape wound around it, when that tape is unwound theliner also is unwound and therefore may be removed quickly from the axleor winding shaft of the dispensing equipment in which it is mounted.

Other and further objects of the invention will be apparent to oneskilled in the art from the following description and claims takentogether with the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view partly in section and partly in elevation ofapparatus for performing the method of this invention, with theapparatus ready to wind the liner material and the tape into rolls.

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 of the tape winding end of theequipment showing the apparatus in the position it would assume whenfull tape rolls have been wound on the mandrels and the next length ofliner material approaches the winding position.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 of the same equipment, showing theapparatus just after the turrets supporting the mandrels have beenrotated 180 to cause the full mandrels and the empty mandrels toexchange positions and the empty mandrel to enter into engagement withthe leading end of the tape overlapping the liners.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the apparatus just after thetrailing end of the tape attached to the full mandrels have been cut andwound thereon and with the liners in position on the empty mandrelsready for winding into new tape rolls.

FIG. 5 is a portion of a view taken along the line 55 of FIG. 1, partlyin section and partly in elevation showing how adjacent tapes cut fromthe same sheet are alternately wound on separate mandrels.

FIG. 6 is a somewhat enlarged view, partly in section and partly inelevation taken along the line 6 of FIG. I with the liner materialadhered to the under side of the pressure-sensitive adhesive supplysheet.

FIG. 7 is a more greatly enlarged schematic view, partly in section andpartly in elevation, of one of the tape winding mandrels in its expandedcondition showing how a liner attached to the under side of the tape tobe wound on the mandrel is secured to the mandrel for winding purposesthrough the adhesive under side of the extreme leading edge of the tapewhich overlaps the liner.

FIG. 7A is an even more greatly enlarged view of the encircled portionof FIG. 7, partly in section and partly in elevation, showing theattachment of the liner to the mandrel through the overlapping tape asthe mandrel begins to rotate to wind the liner around it.

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. '7 of the same mandrel just after theliner has been wound there-around.

FIG. 8A is a view similar to FIG. 7A of the encircled portion of FIG. 8showing the relationship of the tape and the liner at the point wherethe ends of the liner overlap just after the liner has been wound aroundthe mandrel and the tape is about to be wound into a roll around theliner.

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 8 but showing the tape roll fullywound on the mandrel with the mandrel in its collapsed condition and theextreme leading end of the tape which was adhered to the mandrel bentaround and under the corresponding leading end of the liner so that itsnonadhesive surface faces inwardly toward the mandrel.

FIG. 9A is a more greatly enlarged view of the encircled portion of FIG.10 showing the position of the tape and the liner just as the tape rolland the mandrel have begun to be rotated with respect to one anotheroppositely to the direction in which the roll was wound to draw theleading tape end under the liner and detach it from the mandrel.

FIG. WA is a view similar to FIG. 9A after the tape end has been fullyreleased from the mandrel and is bent around and under the correspondingleading end of the liner as shown in FIG. 10.

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 8A showing a slight modificationwherein the liner sheet is somewhat shorter so that its ends do notoverlap one another but come into close proximity.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a large supply roll 31 of awide sheet of pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet material 32 and asomewhat smaller supply roll 33 of nonadhesive liner material 34 ofsubstantially the same width which are to be fed together to attachselected lengths of the liner material 34 to the adhesive under side ofthe pressure-sensitive sheet 32. When the terms length and width areused in reference to these sheets, length refers to the dimension in thedirection of travel of the sheets and width refers to their dimension atright angles to length and transverse to travel or in an axial directionwith reference to the supply rolls. The pressure-sensitive adhesivesheet 32 comprises a backing layer or sheet 35 which presents anadhesive layer 36 on one major surface and is nonadhesive or nontacky onits other major surface. As in most tape rolls of this type, the supplyroll 31 is wound with the adhesive side of the sheet facing inwardlytoward the axis of the roll and the nonadhesive surface of the sheetfacing outwardly.

The pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet 32 is drawn under and aroundspaced idling and positioning rollers 37, which contact the nonadhesivetop side of the sheet, by a driven pull roll 38 which contacts theadhesive underside of the sheet. The liner material 34 is drawn from itssupply roll 33 and fed in the same direction as the pressure-sensitiveadhesive sheet by a pair of intermittently driven feed rollers 39. Thefeed rollers 39 draw the material around a guide roller and then throughthe nip between them to feed the desired length of liner material 34between a pair of spaced horizontal guides 41 into position over ahorizontal support, such as a vacuum box lift table 42. One end of 5 thetable 42 is adapted to act as an anvil 43 for cooperating with a cuttingknife 44 positioned above the liner for cooperative vertical movementwith respect to the anvil 43 to sever the desired length from the linersheet. When this is done, the lift table 42 is raised to press the liner34 into adhesive contact with the underside of the pressure-sensitiveadhesive sheet 32 passing between the positioning rollers 37, as shownby the dotted lines in FIG. I and also in FIG. 6. The feeding of theliner sheet 34, the severance of the desired length of liner materialand the motion of the lift table 42 to adhere the liner 34 to thepressure-sensitive adhesive sheet 32 all are controlled by conventionaltiming means to assure that the desired length of liner 34 is adhered tothe adhesive sheet at exactly the right point since this affects thewinding of the liner and the adhesive sheet into a tape roll as will bedescribed more fully hereinafter.

Thus, the adhesive sheet 32 with the liner 34 attached to its adhesiveunderside is drawn around the pull roll 38 as described hereinbefore,and then underneath a driven platen or anvil roll 43. A bank of circularcutting knives 44 is positioned directly under the platen roll 43 insuch a way that the knives can be adjusted towards and away from theroll for slitting the pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet and the linerinto narrow widths of pressure-sensitive adhesive tape 45. By way ofillustration, if the pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet 32 and the linersheet 34 are about 60 inches in width and it is desired to produce tapesone-half inch wide, the sheet will be slit into 120 tapes all of whichthen pass around the platen roll 43 and an idler roller 46 adjacentthereto with their nonadhesive surface facing the platen roll 43 andtheir adhesive surface facing the idler roller 46. Then, as shown mostclearly in FIGS. 1 and 5, adjacent tapes 45 slit from the same sheet 32are wound alternately on separate mandrels 47 so that there are 60 tapeson each mandrel, and each of the mandrels is rotatably mounted in aseparate winding turret 48. The turrets 48, which are identical, aremounted one above the other and controlled so as to operatesimultaneously in the same timed relation with respect to the tape beingwound.

Each of the turrets 48 is of the type which is conventional in thepressure-sensitive adhesive tape manufacturing industry and comprises apair of spaced cylindrical heads 49 (only one of which is shown in thedrawings) between which the mandrels 47 are supported and mounted forrotation. Conventionally, the heads 49 at one end of the turrets containthe drive for indexing the turrets, i.e., rotating them 180 to transposethe positions of the two mandrels 47, and for engaging and rotating themandrels 47 once they are in the desired positions. (The driving ends ofthe turrets are not specifically shown in the drawings). Typically, theturrets may be rotated by a spur and ring gear combination and themandrels may be driven through a planetary gear train mounted in thedriving head of the turrets. The driven end of the mandrel, not shown,is geared to enter into driving engagement with the planetary gear trainwhen the mandrels are positioned in the driving heads of the turrets 48.As explained hereinbefore in connection with the apparatus for feeding,cutting and lifting the liner material 34, the indexing of the turrets48, the rotation of the mandrels 47 and the feeding of the adhesivesheet and tapes with the liners attached, all are controlled in timedrelation by cams and other means conventionally used for this purpose toperform the process steps which will be described hereinafter.Similarly, the opposite end of each of the turrets presents retractableair actuated sockets 51 for engaging the opposite end of each of themandrels 47 after the driving end of the mandrel has been positioned inthe driving head at the opposite end of the turret. These air drivensockets 511 may be extended to engage the mandrel 47 and retracted toallow the mandrel to be removed from the turret simply by actuating apneumatic cylinder 52 which controls the sockets. The mandrels 47,themselves, are conventional expandable mandrels which are pneumaticallyactuated by air supplied through the end of the mandrel through apassageway 53 in the air actuated socket 51, as shown in FIG. 5. Thus,the mandrel 47 may be either expanded or collapsed through control ofthis air supply.

Referring in particular to FIGS. 2-3 and 7-l0A of the drawings,thevarious steps in winding tape rolls 50 in accordance with thisinvention are illustrated. FIG. 2 shows the winding apparatus of FIG. 1just as the tape rolls on the top or winding mandrel have been fullywound and the next liners are moved into position adjacent the woundmandrels. At this point, the pull roll 38 and the platen roll 43 arestopped and locked in position, the winding mandrels 47 are disengagedfrom their drive, and the turrets 48 are rotated to transpose, orexchange, the top and bottom mandrels in each turret. As the turrets 48are rotated in this manner, the tape roll 50 on the top mandrel unwindsjust enough to allow the mandrels to exchange positions as the emptybottom mandrel swings up into contact with the liner 34 and finallyassumes its winding position above the full mandrel, as shown in FIG. 3.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a transverse cutting bracket 55 is mounted atthe ends of a pair of swinging arms 56 which are pivotally mounted forrotation about the centerline of each of the turrets 48. Normally, thebracket 55 rests against the leading side of the empty mandrel 47 at thebottom of the turret, as shown in FIG. 2, and when the turret is rotatedto exchange the mandrels, the bracket 55 is rotated with the turret insuch a way that it enters into adhering contact with the underside ofthe adhesive tape just ahead of the empty mandrel as shown in FIG. 3.Then, the tape 45 extending across this bracket is severed by atransversely moving knife or other cutting device and the bracket dropsdown with the tape as the cut trailing end thereof is wound on the fulltape roll 59. Finally, the extreme trailing end of the tape is pulledfrom the bracket 55 and wound on the tape roll 50 as pressure is appliedto the roll by the bracket which now rests on top of the roll to wipe itdown as shown in FIG. 4. When the full mandrel is removed from theturret so that the tape rolls 50 can be removed from the mandrel, thepivotally mounted bracket 55 again assumes the position shown in FIG. 2on the other side of a freshly mounted empty mandrel 47.

FIG. 7 shows a winding mandrel 47 in its expanded condition just as theextreme leading end 61 of a length of adhesive tape 45 to which a liner34 is attached is brought into adhering engagement with the surface ofthe mandrel. As soon as this tape end 61 is adhered to the mandrel 47 inthis manner, the mandrel is rotated counterclockwise, as shown in FIG.7A, to begin to wind the liner 34 around and in circumferential contactwith the outer cylindrical surface of the mandrel. In the embodiment ofFIGS. 7-10A, the length of the liner 34 is slightly greater than thecircumference of the mandrel 47 so that the ends of the liner overlapone another slightly when the liner is wound completely around themandrel, as shown most clearly in FIGS. 8 and 8A. Then the adhesive tape45 is wound spirally around the mandrel upon itself in successiveoverlapping convolutions to form a hollow annular cylinder or roll withthe adhesive surface of the tape facing inwardly toward the axis of theroll. The liner sheet 34 is adhered to the adhesive surface of theinnermost convolution 62 of the tape 45 in such a way that it completelycovers the adhesive surface thereof and thereby prevents this surfacefrom adhering to the hand or any other object placed inside the hollowof the roll.

In order to disengage the liner 34 from the mandrel 47 and make itpossible to remove the newly wound tape roll 50 therefrom, it isnecessary to release the tape or detach it from the mandrel. Toaccomplish this, the mandrel 47 first is collapsed as shown in FIGS. 9A,10 and 10A, and then the mandrel 47 and the tape roll 50 are rotatedwith respect to one another in a direction opposite to that in which thetape roll 50 is wound, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 9A, to detachthe tape from the mandrel 47 and bend the leading end 61 around andunder the corresponding leading end of the liner 34 as shown mostclearly in FIG. 10A. In this configuration, only the nonadhesive backsurface of the extreme leading end 61 of the tape faces inwardly towardthe hollow of the roll. As a result, the whole hollow inner surface ofthe tape roll is effectively shielded against adhesive contact.

FIG. 11 illustrates a slight modification of the embodiment of theforegoing figures wherein the liner 34 is slightly shorter than thecircumference of the expanded mandrel with the result that the ends ofthe liner do not overlap and fall just short of abutting relation on themandrel. While this modification eliminates the slight bump caused bythe overlapping liner material, it does not form quite as rigid astructure as that of the foregoing embodiment. The extreme leading end611 of the tape is disengaged from the mandrel 4'7 and bent around andunderneath the corresponding leading end of the liner 34 after themandrel has been collapsed as described in connection with FIGS. 9A and10A.

It is important to note that in all the embodiments of this inventionthe liner 34 only is secured in position in the finished tape roll byvirtue of its adhesion to the tape with which it is wound and morespecifically only through adherence to the innermost convolution 62 ofthe tape wound around the liner. Thus, when the tape is unwound from theroll down to the last convolution and this innermost or finalconvolution finally is unwound the liner 34 automatically is releasedand unwound at the same time that the tape is unwound. This is anadvantage when the tape roll is being used in a dispenser which providesa special axle or post for mounting the tape roll since it eliminatesthe need to open the dispenser or otherwise provide access thereto onlyfor the purpose of removing a spent tape core therefrom.

Having now described the invention in specific detail and exemplifiedthe manner in which it may be carried into practice, it will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art that innumerable variations,modifications, applications and extensions of the basic principlesinvolved may be made without departing from its spirit or scope. Forinstance, the liner material may be fed sideways instead of endwise overthe air table 42 with a side instead of an end cutoff device to severthe desired length of liner from its supply. Furthermore, the linercould be precut and placed in a stack underneath the pressure-sensitiveadhesive sheet and sequentially fed upwardly in timed relation with theadhesive sheet to attach the liners in their proper positions asdescribed hereinbefore. Some of the other possible variations in thenature of the liner material have been discussed hereinbefore.

What is claimed is:

l. The method of manufacturing rolls of normally tacky andpressure-sensitive adhesive tape suitable for storage and dispensingwhich comprises attaching a liner sheet having a non-tacky surface tothe leading end of a pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet having a tackysurface with the nontacky surface of the liner facing in the samedirection as the tacky surface of the adhesive sheet, advancing saidliner into engagement with a winding mandrel, winding the liner and thepressuresensitive adhesive sheet around the mandrel with the nontackysurface of the liner in circumferential contact with the mandrel surfaceand with the innermost convolution of the pressure-sensitive sheet incircumferential adhering contact with the outwardly facing surface ofthe liner, and thereafter continuing to wind the pressuresensitiveadhesive sheet about itself with the adhesive side of the sheet facinginwardly and each successive convolution of the pressure-sensitive sheetin circumferential adhering contact with the nonadhesive surface of thenext innermost convolution of said pressure-sensitive sheet to form atape roll in which successive convolutions of the tape are adhered toone another.

2. The method of manufacturing rolls of pressuresensitive adhesive tapeaccording to claim I, wherein the mandrel is rotated after the liner isadvanced into engagement therewith to wind the liner and thepressure-sensitive adhesive sheet around the mandrel to form the roll.

3. The method of manufacturing rolls of pressuresensitive adhesive tapeaccording to claim 1, which comprises slitting said liner and saidadhesive sheet successively into tapes of narrower width after they areattached to one another but prior to advancing the liner into engagementwith the mandrel, whereby the liner and the tape wound around the linerare in exact axial registration with respect to one another in thefinished rolls.

4. The method of manufacturing rolls of pressuresensitive adhesive tapeaccording to claim 3, wherein the adhesive sheet is slit into amultiplicity of tapes of narrower width and adjacent tapes slit fromsaid sheet are wound alternately on separate mandrels.

5. The method of manufacturing rolls of pressuresensitive adhesive tapeaccording to claim 1, wherein the liner sheet is engaged with themandrel by a piece of pressure-sensitive adhesive tape which overlapsthe leading end of the liner and is adhered to the liner and to themandrel.

6. The method of manufacturing rolls of pressuresensitive adhesive tapeaccording to claim 5, wherein the' mandrel is expanded when the liner isattached thereto and wound with the adhesive sheet around the mandrel toform the roll and the mandrel is then contracted diametrically toprovide an annular space between the liner and the circumference of themandrel, and which comprises then rotating the contracted mandrel andthe tape roll with respect to one another oppositely to the direction inwhich the roll was wound to detach the piece of tape from the mandreland draw it underneath the leading end of the liner and into adheringcontact with the liner, thereby releasing the tape end of the liner tothe mandrel.

904050 I 2 Q PATENT OFFICE e 5 CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Petent NO; I II Dated i November. 6, 9 3

' I r wentor l LEO M. L mb it is certified; that ewe: appears in theabove-identified patent and I that said Lettezs' Patent; ate herebycorrected as shown below:

' In Column 1," line 26, insert "in different core diameters, for

different place, prigeipelly" after the word manufactured.

In Column 1., line +7, "flexible and nontacky" should read a flexibleand nontacky si neq n mm this 26th day of No ember 1974.

(SEAL) Attest:

. Mecca: M'. GIBSON JR.' v c. MARSHALLDANN Attesting OfficerCommissioner of Patents

1. The method of manufacturing rolls of normally tacky andpressure-sensitive adhesive tape suitable for storage and dispensingwhich comprises attaching a liner sheet having a nontacky surface to theleading end of a pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet having a tackysurface with the nontacky surface of the liner facing in the samedirection as the tacky surface of the adhesive sheet, advancing saidliner into engagement with a winding mandrel, winding the liner and thepressure-sensitive adhesive sheet around the mandrel with the nontackysurface of the liner in circumferential contact with the mandrel surfaceand with the innermost convolution of the pressure-sensitive sheet incircumferential adhering contact with the outwardly facing surface ofthe liner, and thereafter continuing to wind the pressure-sensitiveadhesive sheet about itself with the adhesive side of the sheet facinginwardly and each successive convolution of the pressure-sensitive sheetin circumferential adhering contact with the nonadhesive surface of thenext innermost convolution of said pressure-sensitive sheet to form atape roll in which successive convolutions of the tape are adhered toone another.
 2. The method of manufacturing rolls of pressure-sensitiveadhesive tape according to claim 1, wherein the mandrel is rotated afterthe liner is advanced into engagement therewith to wind the liner andthe pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet around the mandrel to form theroll.
 3. The method of manufacturing rolls of pressure-sensitiveadhesive tape according to claim 1, which comprises slitting said linerand said adhesive sheet successively into tapes of narrower width afterthey are attached to one another but prior to advancing the liner intoengagement with the mandrel, whereby the liner and the tape wound aroundthe liner are in exact axial registration with respect to one another inthe finished rolls.
 4. The method of manufacturing rolls ofpressure-sensitive adhesive tape according to claim 3, wherein theadhesive sheet is slit into a multiplicity of tapes of narrower widthand adjacent tapes slit from said sheet are wound alternately onseparate mandrels.
 5. The method of manufacturing rolls ofpressure-sensitive adhesive tape according to claim 1, wherein the linersheet is engaged with the mandrel by a piece of pressure-sensitiveadhesive tape which overlaps the leading end of the liner and is adheredto the liner and to the mandrel.
 6. The method of manufacturing rolls ofpressure-sensitive adhesive tape according to claim 5, wherein themandrel is expanded when the liner is attached thereto and wound withthe adhesive sheet around the mandrel to form the roll and the mandrelis then contracted diametrically to provide an annular space between theliner and the circumference of the mandrel, and which comprises thenrotating the contracted mandrel and the tape roll with respect to oneanother oppositely to the direction in which the roll was wound todetach the piece of tape from the mandrel and draw it underneath theleading end of the liner and into adhering contact with the liner,thereby releasing the tape roll from engagement with the mandrel.
 7. Themethod of manufacturing rolls of pressure-sensitive adhesive tapeaccording to claim 1, wherein the liner sheet is adhered to the adhesiveside of the leading end of the pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet in sucha way that the extreme leading end of the adhesive sheet overlaps theleading end of the liner and acts as the piece of adhesive tape whichadheres the leading end of the liner to the mandrel.